Aaron Friedberg on Fallout from the China Summit

About this episode

Aaron Friedberg discusses the implications of the China summit and the Iran War on US-China relations.

“China is aiming to enhance its power with respect to the United States in particular, and eventually to emerge as the dominant player in the international system, and it’s working towards that goal…. It is not clear to me at this point what our strategy is, or even if we have one.” So argues Princeton Professor Aaron Friedberg in a new Conversation assessing the state of US-China relations in the wake of President Trump’s China summit and the ongoing Iran War. While the Iran War does not represent a decisive shift in US-China relations, Friedberg explains that it is viewed from Beijing as a “net positive” because it has weakened US relations with its traditional allies. In a bracing synopsis, Friedberg presents China as working diligently to overtake the US as the dominant power on the world stage, while the Second Trump administration has failed to counter with a coherent strategy.

People in this episode

Host: Bill Kristol

Guest: Aaron Friedberg

Topics covered

• US-China relations
• international power dynamics
• Trump administration
• Iran War
• geopolitical strategy

Keywords

• China
• United States
• Aaron Friedberg
• Trump
• Iran War
• geopolitics
• international relations

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Princeton

Places: United States, China

More episodes of Conversations with Bill Kristol

• Ron Brownstein: What’s Going To Happen in 2026? · June 11, 2026 · 1h 6m
• Phillips O’Brien on Ukraine v. Russia and the Future of Warfare · May 8, 2026 · 1h 7m
• A.B. Stoddard on Trump’s Psyche—and The Implications for 2028 · April 23, 2026 · 1h 4m
• Mark Blitz on the Enduring Importance of Aristotle · April 9, 2026 · 56 min
• Aaron Friedberg on the Iran War and the View from Beijing · March 19, 2026 · 1h 21m
• Doug Sosnik on What to Expect in 2026—and Why 2028 Will Be Different · February 27, 2026 · 1h 12m